Review Blog

Oct 12 2015

The white mouse by Peter Gouldthorpe

Omnibus, 2015. ISBN 9781742990910
(Age: 9+) Recommended, World War Two, Heroism, Resistance, Nancy
Wake, France. The story of one of Australia's greatest heroes, Nancy
Wake is brought to life in this exceptional story book by
Gouldthorpe. Each double page illustrates the story of the Nazi
occupation of France during the Second World War, and along the side
of the page, usually written on notepaper, as Nancy was a
journalist, is her story. Each page fills in the tale of her life,
from moving away form Australia to work in Paris in 1934, to seeing
Nazi intimidation at first hand in Vienna in the same year and then
deciding to join the underground movement in France when war broke
out.
Gouldthorpe's illustrations take in a broad sweep of the occupation
of France. We see the increasing numbers of Nazi troops in French
streets, people being taken away for questioning, tanks moving about
the countryside, the Vichy Police force emulating the Nazis.
Everywhere is touched by the Nazis and their strict regimes, all is
conquered and overwhelmed, but a few brave people do things to
undermine their power. Nancy, now married, travels with her
businessman husband taking information, clothing, documents to those
in need. She helps many refugees and even a large number of British
soldiers to escape their prison. But she is captured and tortured,
escaping only when a colleague takes an extraordinary step. She
eventually escapes to Britain and trained as an SOE (Special
Operations Executive) then parachuted back to France to help the
Resistance. Dubbed the 'White Mouse' by the Nazis, she must use all
her powers to survive, even convincing the members of the Resistance
that she is who she says she is. Her daring bicycle trip to
Chateauroux is breathtaking and when the Germans pulled out of
France in 1944, she headed straight back to Marseilles to find that
her husband had died at the hands of the Gestapo.
Nancy Wake is revealed to a younger audience through this
enlightening book and visiting the War Memorial in Canberra, they
will be able to view her medals. Gouldthorpe's illustrations include
full page drawings of warfare, many backed by newspaper print from
the time, maps and postcards, adding to the impact on the reader of
her daring deeds during an horrific time. The endpapers with their
full spread of maps will help the readers pinpoint the places spoken
of in the text.
Fran Knight